In bright spring sunshine on a flat and decent sized pitch the boys observed a minutes silence in memory of the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
This year the LW festival was based on a five team round robin tournament.
Our opponents were:
London Welsh, Wasps, Llanishen and Bank of England.

First round v Bank of England
BOE kicked off and although not taken cleanly the ball was judged to have bounced backward and was cleaned up by Jamie who charged forward through the BOE defence, off -loading to Pip who ran in the TRY. After the restart Chris raced down the wing only to be bundled in touch, in the ensuing line out he stole the ball and played it quickly out to the Salisbury half backs. As Salisbury gained territory a scrum was awarded to BOE. Salisbury produced a huge push and quick recycling allowed Hugo to charge over for another TRY. Sam converted again 14-0 to Salisbury.
Unfortunately Toby was injured in the dying minutes of the half and would stay out of the action all day as a result.
Second half
The restart saw the Salisbury pack push forward with sustained urgency and a terrific sharp pass from Sam allowed Tom to run in a third TRY. Sam converted once again. 21-0 to Salisbury.

Tom was in the thick of it again after the restart being forced in to touch. At the line out Jared ripped the ball from the BOE forwards and Cadan hoovered up in the loose making valuable yards, speedy recycling saw the Salisbury midfield in action again. A penalty awarded against BOE for handing off saw further gains with Will passing deftly to Charlie making good ground. By this time BOE were going nowhere and a further TRY followed as Callum raced from behind a solid Salisbury ruck and over the line. Sam converted and the full time Whistle was blown.
Final score 28-0 to Salisbury

All in all a blistering start to proceedings!
Reality however, was just around the corner!

Second round v Llanishen.
With the tannoy blasting out a selection of everyones favourite Welsh male voice choral hits, the boys from Llanishen were bristling with intent.
The two teams were well matched and early exchanges reflected this, though within a few minutes it became clear that Llanishen were street smart around the breakdown and an altogether different proposition to the Bank of England! The two packs clashed mightily and often with a promising charge by Josh for Salisbury. Numerous technical misdemeanours saw scrum after penalty after scrum being awarded which underlined the urgency with which the game was being played. Zandy secured good turnover ball following sustained Salisbury pressure but by the half time whistle honours were very much even.
Second half
The restart was taken cleanly by Callum who ran the ball 25 yards in to ferocious contact and ultimately in to touch. Llanishen won their own line out ball and surged forward, only a brilliant last ditch cover tackle by the ever dependable Patrick prevented a try.
Salisbury weathered continued forward pressure by Llanishen with Ben producing a stunning kick in to touch, clearing the Salisbury lines.
A refereeing whistle fest slowed the game to a crawl and ultimately Llanishen crossed the line to score the only try of the match.
Final score 7-0 to Llanishen.

Third round v Wasps
The Salisbury coaches went to work restoring morale within the camp and Nigel ministered to the injured.
Callum kicked off for Salisbury and immediately the Wasps ran the ball back in to our territory however fierce Salisbury rucking allowed Jamie to break and get a swift pass to Cadan, as the black shirts swarmed around him he chipped forward but failed to reconnect with his kick beyond the try line.
The scrum that followed indicated that the Wasps pack were no pushover and George and the other forwards upped their work rate in response. Once again the contest was very evenly matched with both Cadan and Jared producing strong runs with ball in hand.
By half time it really looked to be anyone's game, though real fluency of play was denied either side by a glut of penalties and set and reset scrums. Sharp eyed readers will note a lack of involvement from our backs as a result!

Second half
Wasps kick off found George and Salisbury secured a penalty following a series of well executed rucks, Chris moved the ball out to Cadan but the mid field just couldn't connect with the backs.
Once again the action seesawed back and forth across the middle of the park. Both teams fought with absolutely every ounce of strength and stamina until eventually an opportunistic run from a fumbled Salisbury pass gave Wasps the opening score.
With very little time left on the clock Salisbury fought on bravely but in the end ran out of time, much to the relief of the Wasps followers.
Final score 7-0 to Wasps

4th round v London Welsh
After the brutal encounter with Wasps (you should see Jared's eye now!!) The refs pea got stuck in his whistle which delayed the kick off for a minute or two......but more about that later.
London Welsh fumbled the kickoff and Salisbury were all over them in a breath driving the defence across the try line only to have the try denied as being held up. Wthin seconds Salisbury were back over the LW try line with Pip and Jamie conspiring to undo the opposition defence, once again they just couldn't get the ball to ground.
Just before half time following a big Salisbury scrum, Callum made it over the try line, once again the try was disallowed.
The first half was all Salisbury but with nothing to show for it on the score board.
Second half
At half time the coaches talk centred around getting the ball out wide to the backs, as driving over for points was clearly not working.
The LW restart kick went straight in to touch, Zandy led a strong Salisbury charge with Jamie forcing the LW back towards their own try line, the referees whistle was definitely back to it's best as series of scrums demonstrated, with Salisbury piling the pressure on. After one scrum, 10 metres from the LW line, was reset 4 times, Sam finally made across the line to score the first Salisbury Try since the first round! He made no mistake with the conversion.
Almost as soon as the restart was taken Salisbury over ran the LW defence again and an injury sustained by one of their forwards brought the game to a premature end.
Final score 7-0 to Salisbury

Our points haul was such that we finished the contest third (as I understand it). However all the boys deserve credit for playing with such passion, commitment and courage against certainly two of the strongest sides I can remember seeing at this level, it could easily have gone our way!